Poppy Hills Golf Course

Located on California's Monterey Peninsula, this course was designed by Robert 
Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 1986. Home course of the Northern California 
Golf Association it also replaced Cypress Hills in the AT&T National Pro-Am
in 1991. The course has undergone changes since it first opened and I've 
incorporated these changes as much as possible in this version. 

I found the JNUG design of this course done by Scott Chesney and it matched
up quite closely with the layout diagram that I had intended to use for the
course. My layout diagram incorporated changes that were not in Scott's  
rendition but I liked his basic elevations in the hole layouts so I started 
with his course as a skeleton. If the general slopes and rolls are accurate
then the credit belongs to Scott. If not, it's still an interesting layout to
play. Every hole has been changed, some moderately and some almost entirely 
redone, to resemble the diagram and description I was working with. Several
of the objects are from Scott's other courses that I've altered as to size 
and coloring. Some are mine to the extent that they started as bits and pieces
of other objects that have fallen into what I would guess is public domain at 
this point in time. If any of you designers recognize your work or pieces of
it in this design then accept my thanks now. The background was originally
used in Muirfield Village by Lee Ritze. I have altered it in size, color and 
detail to fit this course. The object placements were made to match as close
as possible the diagram I had of the course.

At 6800 yards from the pro tees, the course's length is not it's major 
problem. Sharp doglegs, large multi-plateaued greens, blind shots and severe
cross-bunkering are what you face here. If you are not a fan of precision and
position golf then you may not enjoy playing this course. Normally the course
is set up to force you to hit to specific areas and will penalize attempts to
overpower it. From the material I was able to gather about the course, it is
evident that being able to hit a pitch and run and having an excellent game
from the sand is required. To the extent that this can be simulated in this
game, I've used rough instead of fairway to border the greens in those areas
where putting into a peach basket is not appropriate. I worked fairly hard to
place pins that required some thought but did not trick them up to unduly 
penalize a mediocre putt.

The material I used had a set of the "toughest" catagories for the course.
So as much as possible I tried to have the following as toughest:
___Toughest Hole. No.3
Right side of fairway falls off into underbrush. Has the highest scoring 
average on the course.
---Toughest Drive. No.1
Lateral hazard to the right and trees on the left. Most players give it 
everything to reach the optimum landing area.
---Toughest Approach. No.4
The green on this hole is a club to a club and a half farther away than it 
appears as the huge green plays tricks with your depth perception. The large
bunker on the right of the green gathers more than a fair share of shots.
---Toughest Green to Hit. No.11
Bunkers hug the hourglass shaped green and the toughest pin position is back
right.
---Toughest Green to Putt. No.4
The undulations are subtle and you never get the same putt twice.
---Toughest Bunker. No.14
Any of those guarding the front of the green. Ball tends to bury and you are
always hitting up to the putting surface.
---Toughest Rough. No.10
Balls driven up the hill on the right side often leave no swing at all. The 
rough is also tough around the green.

Please enjoy and as a standard admonition, this course design may be copied  
and distributed free of any charge including bulletin boards as long as only
subscription fees or normal download costs are involved.

Mike Henner
P* SMMP85C
March, 1994